Juno Beach, FL, October 16, 2012 – As a major sponsor of the Open Source Electronic Health Record (EHR) Community, DSS, Inc. is pleased to release the DSS Patient Search Tool Extension and Launcher to the Open Source Electronic Health Record Agent (OSEHRA) via the Apache 2.0 Open Source license. This tool enables clinicians and researchers who use the VistA EHR to quickly search a patient’s entire electronic record for free text data that might otherwise be scattered throughout the chart. DSS, Inc. will be providing a sneak peek of the Patient Search Tool via demonstrations at the 1st Annual OSEHRA Summit, October 17-18.

The DSS Patient Search Tool and Launcher were developed as part of the Veterans Affairs Innovation Initiative (VAi2) in collaboration with the North Florida/ South Georgia VAMC in Gainesville, FL. Innovation Initiatives are designed to spur innovation within VA by providing opportunities to partner with the best of the private sector and solve the Department's most pressing challenges. The DSS Patient Search Tool is a VistA EHR extension to the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) that solves a major problem for clinicians by allowing them to identify and isolate text data within a patient’s record in real time. Discrete and free text data buried deep in the patient’s notes, orders, problems, and meds take valuable clinical time and effort, but the DSS Patient Search Tool can retrieve this information in moments, which is a powerful tool for enhancing patient-centered care. Without the DSS Patient Search Tool, the information stored in a patient record as free text can be difficult to find or missed entirely as patients are seen over a period of time. The launcher will enable CPRS to seamlessly run the Patient Search Tool within a patient record.

Donating a proprietary product, developed under VAi2, helps support the OSEHRA business model by promoting collaboration and a strong partnership between the vendor community and VA. Community and Vendor engagement is essential to the success of the Open Source EHR Initiative and VistA Extensions development.

“For 20 years, DSS, Inc. has been committed to improving patient care and accelerating VistA EHR innovation. We hope the donation of the DSS Patient Search Tool as an Open Source license will further this innovation, and promote the importance of government and private company collaboration,” said Mark Byers, CEO and President of DSS, Inc.

The DSS Patient Search tool is expected to improve direct patient care, safety, and quality while reducing unnecessary and costly duplicate consults, tests, or procedures. Providers will have new search functionality that has been lacking in VistA even with elaborate reporting tools.

OSEHRA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating innovation in electronic health record software and related technology. Founded in 2011, the organization supports an open, collaborative community of users, developers, and researchers engaged in advancing electronic health record software and related health information technology. OSEHRA hosts software repositories for applications such as the Department of Veterans Affairs’ VistA electronic health record.

About Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS, Inc.)

DSS, Inc. develops and supplies integrated enhancements to the Veterans Affairs VistA system and specializes in healthcare IT solutions that improve quality and productivity. The organization also designs applications that are compatible with the Indian Health Services RPMS, the Department of Defense’s healthcare systems and vxVistA.

To foster the adoption of open source in healthcare organizations, DSS, Inc. is a founder and supporter of a community-driven, collaboration environment Web site, www.vxVistA.org that acts as a forum for discussion and best practices among Open Source vxVistA and VistA users. For more information on DSS, Inc., visit www.dssinc.com.

Thank you for this donation to the open-source world! I am in the team at Clinovo behind the open-source Electronic Data Capture (EDC) ClinCapture. I think it's interesting to see that proprietary technologies can be easily transferred from the commercial model to the OSS model. I also think open-source systems can grow by collaborating and learning from each other: I strongly encourage you to come see what we are building with ClinCapture on clinovo.com/capture.